Welcome to our blog! Come and join us on what we hope will be interesting and exciting adventures. Having enjoyed camping with our children decades earlier, we dreamed of revisiting favorite state and national parks as well as new destinations across the country, although this time it wouldn't involve setting up a tent or sleeping in our 1970 VW bus. In 2008, we purchased a travel trailer (more on that later).

Our Vacation Cottage On Wheels

Sunday, March 28, 2010

As we near end of our stay at the Naples KOA, we feel sadness as we watch some of our new friends packing up or already gone, heading back north for Easter at home. When I was ill, people that I hardly new would drop by to check up on me. One fellow RVer had hoped to set up a kayak flotilla; something that we weren't able to pull off, in part because of me and my stones. Maybe next year.

The cabin people keep arriving and going, some for a weekend and others for just a day. Each new day sees fewer and fewer neighbors as our "backyard" expands, spreading outward to include the empty RV sites that now surround us.

We have been very lucky concerning this park. We arrived on the 1st of March without a reservation. Having made plans to meet some non-RV'ing friends from New York and California while in Naples, we hoped to get at least 2 weeks at an RV park in Naples or Marco Island. The Naples KOA was the first RV resort we tried after driving down I-75 from Tampa, our last port of call. Located at 1700 Barefoot Williams Road, it had an intriguing address and was close to both Naples Old Town and Marco Island. We're glad we gave it a chance. It's been very nice.

After 2 months of bad weather and some unpleasant experiences in Tampa, we were ready for change.
We immediately liked what we saw; an older park, but well kept, with a nice pool, and clean laundry room and bathrooms with private showers, all of which met our immediate needs. What we didn't expect was the friendliness of the staff and visitors.

From the start, we were greeted by nearly everyone; always invited to join them at their table during events and questioned about ourselves and our plans. We couldn't go for a walk without meeting someone along the way to stop and chat with. Of course, it takes two to start a conversation and we did go out of our way to be friendly. It's more about how other people respond to you; whether they just nod and go on their way, or stop and talk. In this resort, most people act as friends, which of course some of them are after coming here for years, but they also act his way with new arrivals.

We're planning to return next year; perhaps February and March. We love the KOA's proximity to local beaches, resturants and the Old Town in Naples, which is a great place to stroll through and gawk at the many shops and their wealthy clientele, or to eat at one of the many fine resturants. We recommend McCabes on 5th Avenue. It looks like a beautiful English pub inside and has, like many eating establishments in town, tables outside to sit, eat and watch the Gucci's walk by. McCabe's puts on a terrific St. Patrick's Day celebration each year, with corned beef and cabbage and live Irish music. And don't miss a walk, drive or bicycle ride along Gulf Boulevard. 12th street west will give you access to the pier (see photo below, taken from the beach), always a great place to go, especially at sunset. Gulf Blvd's beautiful homes will knock your socks off and every block has a westside street that includes metered parking and an access to some of the most beautiful Gulf beaches we've ever seen. Just remember to bring lots of quarters to feed the parking meters. 2 bucks will buy you just an hour and 20 minutes.

Just outside of the KOA, you'll find WalMart and Publix shopping centers located on Colliers Blvd or on Rte. 41/Tamiani Trail. Check the Naples KOA's website for other local attractions.

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Rocky The Wonder Dog

Camping Stories...

What Bears Do In The Woods...

"Don't go into the woods tonight unless you bring along a gun, the teddy bears are having a picnic..."

It's not just a song! It's true!

A little story that I submitted to one of the Web's RV Forums. I hope that you find it amusing and informative — this is serious stuff people!

While relaxing outside of our new Fun Finder trailer last week, my DW of 43 years and I reminisced about camping with our children some 40 years ago...

We visited Washington D.C. on one trip and then drove up to Matthews Arm campground in the Shenandoah Natl. Park in Virginia. We haven't been back there for many years since the kids grew up and we retired in Florida, but we remember certain things about that trip like it happened yesterday. The thing to know about Matthews Arm CG is that it was THE place to go - to see bears.

On our first trip, we were a young, new family without much experience camping, two toddlers and just a VW bus to use as our RV. The first day we were in the park, we had a surprise at dinner time. While we were sitting at our picnic table with our young children, just starting to eat our dinner, I spotted a black bear sauntering down the campground road - and headed our way.

This being our first experience with a bear not in a cage of some sort, we were both thrilled - and scared. I shouted out a warning and told everyone to get into the van. The bear had turned off the road and was heading toward our site. Before I knew it, my wife had scooped up the kids and jumped into the van, slamming the door behind her. As I pounded on the door, looking over my shoulder at the advancing ursine invader, my wife just stared out the window at me in dazed amazement- as if she couldn't understand why I was still outside with the bear!

She shouted through the glass that I should get in there with her and the kids - "RIGHT THIS SECOND!" I managed to finally get her to understand that I would be VERY glad to, if only she would UNLOCK THE DOOR!

Well, I made it inside and, after climbing onto our picnic table and chewing on everything that looked like or smelled like food, the she-bear, as it turned out, ate our dinner and then climbed down and walked away.

Amazed at what happened, I waited until the all-clear was sounded and ran across the way to a neighbor's camp site. Yes, they said, the she-bears come around every evening at dinner time, and didn't we NOTICE that we were the only ones still having dinner when ALL the other campers around us had finished and quickly cleaned up and put everything that would attract a bear safely away? Well, nooo, we hadn't noticed and learned an important lesson about bear country: Ask about potential bear visitors when you arrive and be prepared to hustle when the time comes - and, oh yes, eat early and keep a spare car key in your pocket at all times! A mother's protective instincts toward her family don't always include her husband!

By the way, the other lesson we learned was that, although the she-bears came around at dinner time, the much bigger he-bears came around later. I've still got a collapsible water jug with deep tooth marks in it that got chewed on by a big fellow who came around in the pitch dark that same night. After being up most of the night, we left early the next morning...

Another "Bears In The Woods" Story... Submitted By Me On RV.Net

I agree about the danger in treating these animals as friendly "pets." I've seen foolhardy people ignore warnings about the danger of bears time and time again.

On another trip to the Shenandoah N.P., I watched in amazement as one jerk chased after a female black bear and her cub, trying to get ahead of them so that he could get that perfect "Kodak Moment" photo. All the while, a very annoyed ranger was chasing him, demanding that he cut off the chase.

Anyone who camps should be knowledgeable enough about the wildlife that they might encounter to know how dangerous a sow could be when accompanied by a cub. Maybe more people need to have a close encounter and come to know how lucky they are to not have been confronted by a bear.

On another trip, my family and I were tent camping in Shenandoah with a coworker and his family. It was chilly at night and we both had our catalytic heaters going in our closely pitched tents.

Late one night, after bedtime, we heard what we knew was probably a large male passing through the campground, knocking garbage cans out of their concrete-based highway divider-bent-into-a-ring protection. We could hear his progress as he went from can to can, coming ever closer to our tents. They might as well have been playing the "Jaws" da-dum-da-da-dum music for all the fear we felt.

We were huddled in the very center of our tents when the bear hit the garbage can not a dozen feet away; the one we had filled with the night's dinner scraps, including corn cobs soaked in butter. The bear went to work on our garbage. We could hear every grunt and breath from where we were.

When things went silent we thought that he had moved on. He hadn't. We heard the crunch of leaves under his heavy footsteps as he approached our tent and paused just outside.

We were praying that our toddler and young daughter wouldn't wake up and begin crying. The bear was snuffling, circling the tent. When he reached the middle of our encampment, right between the two tent fronts, pitched not a dozen feet apart, he stopped. Silence again. More silence.

My wife had a crushing grip on my bicep. Well, that was one helluva long night. The bear must've fallen asleep in between our toasty, warm tents, oozing nice heat out through their canvas into the night air. We sat up listening to him breathing, not 6 feet away. I'm not sure when he finally left, but one moment we could hear him out there and then he was gone.

And so were we the next morning. That was the last time we camped there.

We need no further education about avoiding bears. After leaving Virginia, we moved on down to the Great Smokey Mtns. N.P.

On arriving at the Cades Cove gate, a ranger told us to be careful - the night before, a black bear had torn his way into a tent holding two female campers AND the grapefruit that they had cut and set aside for their breakfast in bed.

The ranger informed us that the girls froze and were not harmed, but that they probably had to change their shorts after the bear left.

We were as nervous as hell from that point on. I think that was the point in time that I started dreaming about owning a nice, hard-sided RV...

A New Blog - Check It Out!

1990 Toyota Celica GT

The Restoration of My 1990 Toyota Celica GT

Well, she might not be a 1964 Corvette Stingray or a 1959 Porsche 1600 Super (both of which I owned once, early in my marriage and sold for PEANUTS!), but she's mine, she's paid for, and she deserved to live on.

So I decided to return her to the pristine (or better) condition that she was in when she rolled off the factory floor at Toyota Motors in Japan nearly twenty years ago. As you'll soon see, she's a beauty. She'll be refered to as "Yoda" from now on (Sorry, Karen, but "Yoda" makes more sense and a married man shouldn't give a name to his car that's the same as an old girlfriend's.)

I've created a linked blog all about my owning automobiles that are very valuable TODAY, but weren't so much 30 or 40 years ago, and were sold for PEANUTS (But who knew, right? I mean, I would put every penny I had on Microsoft way back when it was a startup selling for PEANUTS and now would have someone who worked for me writing this blog, but WHO KNEW?

If you want to see more outstanding writing, maybe pulitzer quality, check my other blog at: